


The Fast Show and Pathos

by AutisticWriter



Series: Meta [3]
Category: The Fast Show
Genre: Analysis, Angst, British Comedy, Canon Dialogue, Canonical Character Death, Character Development, Character Study, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Essays, Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Mental Health Issues, Meta, Pathos, Sketch Shows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-10-14 09:52:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10534038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutisticWriter/pseuds/AutisticWriter
Summary: A short essay about the use of drama and pathos in the sketch show The Fast Show.





	

One of my favourite things to see in comedy television is moments where the comedy slows down, and the mood is replaced by something more dramatic or outright sad. Think of the ending of the last episode of _Blackadder Goes Forth_ , which is surely the most moving moment to come out of a sitcom; otherwise known as pathos, that is the sort of thing I like to see in comedy. Which is where this relates to _The Fast Show_ , as _The Fast Show_ is also very good at pathos – which is what I will be discussing in this essay.

 

If we are thinking in terms of sketches that are more dramatic than comedic, the Ted and Ralph sketches spring to mind. They are built more on social awkwardness, failed flirting and class barriers than outright jokes, and many people find them difficult to watch. Yet there are certain Ted and Ralph sketches that are sadder than others.

In episode three of series 3, Ted and Ralph discuss Ralph’s time at agricultural college as Ted has a bonfire. But as Ralph chats about the silly things he did with his friends, the conversation takes a dark and unexpected turn.

 **Ralph:** I never finished the course.  
**Ted:** I came to visit you in the hospital, sir.  
**Ralph:** Yes, you did, Ted, and I can’t thank you enough for doing that. A lot of people are frightened of... mental illness.  
**Ted:** Your parents told everyone you had the flu, sir.

As Ralph throws his box of things onto the fire, he wipes at his eyes whilst mumbling that he has smoke in his eyes.

“Me too, sir,” Ted says as he does the same thing.

In episode eight, two episodes after the revelation that Mrs Ted had died (which itself was a sketch with a rapid change in mood), we see her funeral. The service itself is still funny despite its melancholy subject matter, especially Ralph having to sing the song because they don’t have a CD player. The scene in the graveyard is equally funny, with Ralph awkwardly trying to get Ted to have a day off after the funeral (“Bugger the drainage in the lower field!”), but the pathos suddenly kicks in as the credits begin to roll. As the music begins to play, Ted and Ralph turn their backs on the camera and walk away from the camera. Which is when Ted suddenly hunches forwards, his knees buckling. Ralph wraps his arms around him and they walk slowly, Ted leaning against Ralph.

Another character whom is quite depressing to watch is Unlucky Alf. He spends his time getting injured, humiliated and ridiculed, but it isn’t until his sketch in _The Last Fast Show Ever_ that you really begin to feel sorry for him. As Alf makes his way to the bus stop, he chats to everyone he passes, all of them happy to talk and seeming to enjoy the conversation. But when he reaches the stop, he realises he has forgotten his bus pass. So Alf has to turn back, and he finds the villagers having a street party, vandalising his house and celebrating how much they hate him. And poor Alf looks devastated as he quietly mumbles his catchphrase.

In series 3 we are introduced to Archie, who is probably the most depressing character they ever did on _The Fast Show_. Archie is lonely and miserable, and so spends his sketches talking a load of rambled rubbish at people he meets in the pub. Archie is reminiscent of the old blokes in real life pubs who have no one to talk to at home and so won’t shut up when they go to the pub. And, just like those blokes, Archie is both annoying and yet pitiful. Over the course of his sketches, we learn that he only has one friend, and he’s got a pet dog that is very unwell.

In his sketch in episode 1 of _The Last Fast Show Ever_ , Archie admits that he’s just making up his outrageous claim in an attempt to make conversation. In the following episode, Archie gets depressed when he starts discussing life, lamenting, “What’s it all about?” He tells the women he’s talking to that he can’t go fishing anymore (which the audience knows is the only thing he ever does outside of the pub), because someone stole his fishing equipment. And then, as his eyes shine and his bottom lip trembles, Archie tells them that he often thinks about committing suicide, but the words of Frank Sinatra keep coming back to him in his hour of need. Not only is this distressing to see, but it also shines a new light on Archie’s obsession with Frank Sinatra, especially if, as his words seem to imply, that Sinatra’s music is the only reason Archie is still alive.

 

However, there are also characters for which the pathos appears out of nowhere. Some examples include:

  * Ron Manager suddenly announcing in a somewhat distressed voice that his wife has left him.
  * The Brilliant Kid casually bringing up that his dad used to hit him, or the time he is miserable but won’t say why.
  * The ending of some of the sketches with the Historian in which he swings from recounting weird and often disturbing rituals to showing signs of trauma which was possibly caused by his time at the school.
  * The sketch in which Swiss Toni’s voice breaks as he yells, “Can’t you tell, Paul? I am having a nervous breakdown!”



But, in my opinion, the best example of pathos in the whole series is the Rowley Birkin sketch in series 2 episode 7. Rowley is discussing his youth and a woman he loved. As usual, he is drunk and silly as he discusses the usual nonsensical events of his past, but the tone changes when he brings up The War. He suddenly becomes melancholy, and his mumbling isn’t as funny anymore. And there are tears in his eyes as he stares straight at the camera and speaks in the clearest voice he has ever had...

 **Rowley:** And I held her in my arms [long pause*]... I’m afraid I was very drunk.

*Said pause is almost painful to sit through; it is only ten seconds long, but the silence and the agonised look in Rowley’s eyes makes it seem much longer.

And, very fittingly, the audience respond not with a roar of laughter, but a round of applause.

 

So it is for the reasons described above that _The_ _Fast Show_ is my favourite sketch show of all time, because it is incredibly rare and powerful for a sketch to swing from hysterical to tear jerking in a few seconds. It also shows that this particular set of comedians really can act, and how well the characters are written and developed, because it is impossible to do sad scenes with poorly written characters.

Basically, it shows that The Fast Show is a very good television programme... in fact, some might say that it is “BRILLIANT!”


End file.
